Bill targets $100 billion in lost tax revenue each year from offshore tax dodges

Saturday, February 17, 2007

WASHINGTON – Today, citing $100 billion in revenue drained from the U.S. Treasury at the expense of honest, hardworking American families who pay their fair share, Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., and Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., introduced comprehensive legislation to stop offshore tax haven and tax shelter abuses. For more than four years, Levin and Coleman, the Chairman and senior Republican of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, have led an in-depth Subcommittee investigation into offshore tax havens, abusive tax shelters, and the professionals who design, market, and implement these tax dodges. Experts have estimated that the total loss to the Treasury from offshore tax evasion alone approaches $100 billion per year, including $40 to $70 billion from individuals and another $30 billion from corporations engaging in offshore tax evasion. Abusive tax shelters add tens of billions of dollars more. “With a $345 billion annual tax gap and a $248 billion annual deficit,” said Levin, “we cannot tolerate a $100 billion drain on our Treasury each year from offshore tax abuses. We cannot tolerate tax cheats offloading their unpaid taxes onto the backs of honest taxpayers. Offshore tax havens have declared economic war on honest U.S. taxpayers by helping tax cheats hide income and assets that should be taxed in the same way as other Americans. This bill provides a powerful set of new tools to clamp down on offshore tax and tax shelter abuses.” “It is simply unacceptable that some individuals are using offshore tax havens and secrecy jurisdictions to shelter trillions of dollars in assets from taxation,” said Coleman. “These tax schemes cause a massive revenue shortfall and, sadly, it is the honest American taxpayer who must bear a disproportionate burden of investing in areas like education and healthcare. We are introducing this bill to close these loopholes, shut down offshore tax schemes, and ensure that every American pays their fair share of taxes.” “This is a basic issue of fairness and integrity,” said Obama. “We need to crack down on individuals and businesses that abuse our tax laws so that those who work hard and play by the rules aren’t disadvantaged.” The Stop Tax Haven Abuse Act is a strengthened version of a tax reform bill that Levin, Coleman, and Obama introduced in the last Congress. The legislation was strengthened as a result of a year-long Subcommittee investigation which resulted in a hearing and report on August 1, 2006, examining a series of case studies showing how U.S. taxpayers are using offshore secrecy jurisdictions to dodge U.S. taxes. “None of these offshore schemes would work,” said Levin, “without the secrecy that prevents U.S. agencies from enforcing our laws. Our bill offers innovative ways to combat offshore secrecy. We can’t let the offshore tax havens hide $100 billion in U.S. tax revenues which are needed to protect our troops, fund health care and education, and meet the other needs of American families.” Among other measures, the 68-page bill would: • ESTABLISH PRESUMPTIONS TO COMBAT OFFSHORE SECRECY by allowing U.S. tax and securities law enforcement to presume that non-publicly traded, offshore corporations and trusts are controlled by the U.S. taxpayers who formed them or sent them assets, unless the taxpayer proves otherwise; • IMPOSE TOUGHER REQUIREMENTS ON U.S. TAXPAYERS USING OFFSHORE SECRECY JURISDICTIONS by listing 34 jurisdictions which have already been named in IRS court filings as probable locations for U.S. tax evasion; • AUTHORIZE SPECIAL MEASURES TO STOP OFFSHORE TAX ABUSES by giving Treasury authority to take special measures against foreign jurisdictions and financial institutions that impede U.S. tax enforcement; • STRENGTHEN DETECTION OF OFFSHORE ACTIVITIES by requiring U.S. financial institutions that open accounts for foreign entities controlled by U.S. clients, open accounts in offshore secrecy jurisdictions for U.S. clients, or establish entities in offshore secrecy jurisdictions for U.S. clients, to report such actions to the IRS; • CLOSE OFFSHORE TRUST LOOPHOLES by taxing offshore trust income used to buy real estate, artwork and jewelry for U.S. persons, and treating as trust beneficiaries those persons who actually receive offshore trust assets; • STRENGTHEN PENALTIES on tax shelter promoters by increasing the maximum fine to 150% of their ill-gotten gains, and on corporate insiders who hide offshore stock holdings by increasing the maximum fine on them to $1 million per violation of U.S. securities laws; • STOP TAX SHELTER PATENTS by prohibiting the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office from issuing patents for “inventions designed to minimize, avoid, defer, or otherwise affect liability for Federal, State, local, or foreign tax”; and • REQUIRE HEDGE FUNDS AND COMPANY FORMATION AGENTS TO KNOW THEIR OFFSHORE CLIENTS by requiring them to establish anti-money laundering programs like other U.S. financial institutions, under regulations to be issued by the Treasury Department. A summary of the Levin-Coleman-Obama bill, the bill text, and a floor statement by Levin explaining its provisions in more detail are available at levin.senate.gov. FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION CONTACT: Contact: Tara Andringa 202-228-3685 Tara_Andringa@levin.senate.gov